


For Honour, Glory, and Two weeks of Hoovering

by harrietrose



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Flowers, Fluff, Friendship, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24616744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harrietrose/pseuds/harrietrose
Summary: “I cannot believe that out of all the good the internet has to offer, you choose to invest in flower blogs. You realize we don`t have any roses in the apartment”? Gwaine said from behind his apple.“Obviously. Though I wouldn`t trust you lot to find a rose if my life depended on it,” Leon quipped.Or the knights poke fun at Leon`s newfound interest in flowers, which naturally ends in a bet and fight for honour. Modern AU, set in the same universe as my other Merlin fics, but can be read as a standalone (also possible spoiler, but not really, just to be on the safe side).
Relationships: Gwaine & Leon (Merlin), Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin), Gwaine & Percival (Merlin)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	For Honour, Glory, and Two weeks of Hoovering

“I cannot believe that out of all the good the internet has to offer, you choose to invest in flower blogs.” 

Leon glanced up from Merlin`s computer to see an amused Gwaine, munching on an apple. 

“Did you know that the rose family consists of 3000 species? And that strawberries are a part of the rose family?” Leon had hardly offered Gwaine`s incredulousness a thought – he was too captivated by his newfound knowledge. 

Percival soon joined the fun. “Flowers?” 

“You know, the pretty things that girl pick to make the room look… pretty,” Elyan retorted, having just entered the room. Percival rolled his eyes. 

“I know what a flower is, what about them?” 

“Leon is reading about them. On the internet,” Gwaine offered. 

“Flowers”? Percival asked again. 

“Flowers,” Elyan confirmed. 

In all honesty, Leon`s love for knowledge had a play to part in his newfound fascination with flowers. The fact that any information was at hand, available, and so much easier to find was enough to make him giddy with joy. Secondly, he loved flowers, and flowers were the first thing he thought to google. Thus, he was currently deeply ensnared in a blog on how to care on roses. 

“You realize we don`t have any roses in the apartment”? Gwaine said from behind his apple. 

“Obviously. Though I wouldn`t trust you lot to find a rose if my life depended on it,” Leon quipped. 

“I could definitely find a rose.” Percival was thoughtful, and oddly serious. 

“Me too.” Gwaine was quick to offer his support. 

“I`m with Leon. At least I`m aware of my defects,” Elyan mused. 

“That`s two against two. Should we make it a bet?” 

“Bring it on.” 

Leon and Percival, not really having a say, shrugged, but didn`t object. 

“What are the terms?” Leon asked. 

“We fight for honour, glory, and two weeks worth of hoovering,” Gwaine declared. 

“And roses,” Elyan smiled. “Winner ought to keep it,” he added for clarification. 

“Fair enough,” Percival agreed. 

“One try each, communication allowed with each other, but no one else.” Leon thought over the logistics, but that seemed to have covered most of it. 

Just then Merlin entered to find all four of them around the kitchen table, his computer on the kitchen bench nearby (was that a tab on… flowers?), looking extremely concentrated and serious. 

“What`s going on?” 

“Ah, just the man we needed. Can you drive us somewhere?” Gwaine asked. 

“Depends. Where are we going?” 

“Flower market,” Leon replied. 

“No such thing.” 

Four pairs of raised eyebrows met him. 

“I could take you to the plant shop?” 

“Good enough.” 

Soon enough, the five men were squeezed into Merlin`s tiny car, chattering happily about flowers and hoovering. Merlin was still confused, even after Gwaine`s very  
energetic explanation. 

“They`re going to find a rose,” Leon offered. 

“Right.” That didn`t leave Merlin any less confused. 

“Losers do two weeks of hoovering,” Elyan added, as if that cleared everything up. 

Gwaine and Percival entered first. They had been quite (overly) optimistic, until that moment. 

“It`s huge,” Percival muttered. 

Leon and Elyan smirked; it was even bigger than they`d dared hope. 

While Leon, Elyan and Merlin stood in a corner of sunflowers, Gwaine and Percival walked around sniffing and watching and muttering under their breaths. It was quite a sight to behold. Gwaine, with his long locks, jeans and red sweater could easily pass for a plant person (hadn`t it been for the constant look of confusion). Percival on the other hand, was huge. Even the blue hoodie he was wearing couldn`t hide his muscles, and he got quite a few odd looks. 

“It`s a bit stereotypical, really,” Merlin thought aloud. “Anyone could do plants.” 

He hadn`t considered that it was probably more likely due to the fact that the large knight kept bumping into the shelves; it was somewhat similar to an elephant in a  
glass-shop. 

From their corner they observed Gwaine and Percival muttering and whispering, glancing over to the other group quite a lot. After that, the pair would happen to walk past, plants in hand, observing them carefully for any reaction. 

“I`ll give you a hint. That`s a fern,” Leon smirked. 

“Soooo,” Gwaine tried, eyebrows raised hopefully. 

“You`re hopeless,” Leon laughed. 

Taking that as a no, Gwaine dutifully returned the fern to its rightful place, but soon reappearing with some lilies at hand. He looked quite ridiculous, becoming increasingly more bewildered by the moment. 

Just then Percival appeared, looking triumphant, with a smug grin on his face. 

“I`ve got it.”

The three others raised their eyebrows sceptically. He grinned widely as he presented his plant. 

“Oh my friend, pride does go before the fall,” Merlin said. 

“That`s a geranium,” Leon explained. 

“It`s not in the rose family?” 

“Not even a little.” 

Disappointed, Percival put the geranium back. “At least I`m done looking. I hardly knew there were so many plants.” 

“Let`s hope Gwaine gets closer than you do,” Merlin tried comforting him.

Just then he appeared, plant hidden carefully behind his back. 

“Don`t laugh. I know Percival said so, but I`m sure. I`ve found the rose.”

Proudly, he presented – and honestly, it was the saddest Merlin had ever seen – a wilting, browning, quite sad little green stilk, with a few leaves clinging desperately onto it. 

“That`s definitely not a rose,” Elyan said softly (mostly from holding back laughter). 

“I don`t even know what that is,” Leon said weakly. “Merlin?”

“I believe you`ve found a weed.” Merlin lasted a good three seconds before he burst out laughing. The others joined him soon, while Gwaine looked a mix of offended, defeated and amused. 

“I`ll just put that back, shall I?” he asked, still plant in hand, as the others showed no sign of stopping laughing. He thought he could see tears in Leon`s eyes, Elyan was bending over, howling, and Merlin looked as if he needed to sit down. 

“Oh no, we`re definitely bringing your rose back home,” Merlin laughed. 

Well back home, Leon took extraordinary good care of the plant. “It`s been repotted, watered and fertilized. I`ll deal with watering from now on, Gwaine, you`re not allowed within a ten feet radius.”

“Not fair. I found it after all,” he pouted.

“Keep it away from him, and me,” Percival agreed. “Anyhow, flowers are for girls.” 

Percival barely had time to blink before Leon`s sword was in his hand, glove already thrown on the ground.  
“You take that back!”

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, I`ve so many headcannons about knights in modern AU, like obviously they`d bet about anything, especially when chores are at stake (being knights, I`d suppose they never had to do too much of that themselves, and thus any chance to escape is welcome). Also, swordfighting as a way to keep one`s honour, figured that was pretty canon, and also a practical way to deal with things, even in a modern setting :D 
> 
> It goes without saying, but anyone can do flowers! It`s mostly a reference to late into the "The return of the kings and his knights" - fic, but quite a few chapters into the future (so stay tuned!), but I thought it`d be hilarious to write out the origin of the swordfight (though it`s only briefly mentioned). 
> 
> Anyhow, hope you`ve enjoyed!


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